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Friday, 13 March 2015

First on today's to do list was a 2.5hr Circle Cruise which sails all the way around Manhattan Island and takes in over 101 city sights of it's exciting skyline, including a close-up of the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and the Yankee Stadium.

A quick coach ride down to the harbour soon found us installed on the tour boat.

Completely different views from the previous day's airborne tour.

We passed under a variety of bridges - namely Brooklyn, Mnahattan, Williamsburg, 59th Street and George Washington. Here are a few of them.

I love this view of the Empire State Building and the variety of architecture surrounding it.

Look at this little pink palace high up in the middle of these high rise buildings.

The Hospital for Special Surgery.

Interesting architecture and the water towers.

What a surprise we had when we passed this

Concorde! and right next door USS Intrepid, an Aircraft Carrier, which houses a space shuttle, it is covered by that white tent like thing.

River tour over it was time to head back to the hotel, where we said goodbye to some of our group who were heading to the airport for their journey home. We however had the afternoon and another full day to explore the delights of New York.

We had a quick lunch then set off to walk to Central Park. Here's what we saw on the way.
Radio City.

The Warwick Hotel, where the Beatles stayed on their first visit to the States.

Stopped for a short rest at this fancy fountain.

Saks 5th Avenue.

A carriage ride through Central Park.

Of course we had to see the inside of Trump Tower!

Happy Hour? Oh just in time!

St Patrick's church, outside and inside.

An interesting sight on the way back to the hotel - is this NYC royalty??

Back in Times Square we stopped for a rest and people watching. Enjoy the sights and interesting characters with us.

We ate dinner in the lovely Irish Pub that we had already found near our hotel before retiring for the night with another busy day to look forward to.

Join me for Part 12 when we meet up with another blog friend and visit Greenwich Village.

Friday, 6 March 2015

Day 12, after a restful night and a good breakfast it was time for our included tour of NYC!

Did I tell you we had a view of The Empire State building from our bedroom window?

Our first stop on the tour was the World Trade Centre site, 9/11 Memorial. The One World Trade Center
(previously coined the "Freedom Tower" by Governor Pataki) is the
centerpiece of Libeskind's design. The building rises to 1,368 feet
(417 m), the height of the original World Trade Center north tower, and
its antenna rises to the symbolic height of 1,776 feet (541 m). This
height refers to 1776, the year in which the United States Declaration of Independence was signed.

As I am sure you already know on the morning of 11th September, 2001, two hijacked planes bound for Los Angeles
were intentionally crashed into the two towers of the World Trade
Center. The towers collapsed within two hours of the collisions. Islamic terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda
organized and executed the attacks. Nearly 3,000 people died. After the
attacks, hospital workers and police officers began referring to the
World Trade Center site as "Ground Zero"

We stopped at the fire station, where we saw the wall of names of firefighters who lost their lives in the rescue.

A memorial called "Reflecting Absence" honors the victims of the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.The memorial, designed by Peter Walker and Israeli-American architect Michael Arad,
consists of a field of trees interrupted by the footprints of the twin
towers. Pools of water fill the footprints, underneath which sits a
memorial space whose walls bear the names of the victims.

It is a beautiful and intensely moving memorial and I am not ashamed to say we both cried, unashamedly, as we reflected on what happened and thought about the people who lost their lives there. May they all Rest In Peace.

We marvelled at the 'Survivor Tree'. A Callery Pear tree which endured
the September 11, attacks.

In
October 2001, the tree was discovered at Ground Zero severely damaged,
with snapped roots and burned and broken branches. The tree was removed
from the rubble and placed in the care of the New York City Department
of Parks and Recreation. After its recovery and rehabilitation, the tree
was returned to the Memorial in 2010. New, smooth limbs extended from
the gnarled stumps, creating a visible demarcation between the tree’s
past and present. Today, the tree stands as a living reminder of
resilience, survival and rebirth.

On the morning we were there a large group of cadet students from West Point were taking part in the 13th annual Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Run.

On
9/11, 34-year-old F.F. Stephen Siller had
the day off. When he heard the first plane had hit the World Trade
Center, he raced to his firehouse, threw on 60 pounds of equipment and
drove to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel which he ran through on foot. He
was last seen on West Street and like so many others, never made it
home. Stephen’s siblings started the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk
as a memorial tribute to his heroism. Funds raised through the
T2T support the NYC Firefighter Burn Center, scholarship programs for
children who have lost parents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the
construction of Smart Homes for military returning home with devastating injuries, as well as several other charities. We applaud them!

It was time to continue our tour of NY so we boarded the coach and headed off to see the 'Strawberry Fields' memorial.

The Central Park memorial was designed by Bruce Kelly, the chief landscape architect for the Central Park Conservancy. Strawberry Fields was dedicated on what would have been Lennon's 45th birthday, 9thOctober, 1985, by New York Mayor Ed Koch and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, who had underwritten the project. The entrance to the memorial is located on Central Park West at West 72nd Street, directly across from the Dakota Apartments, where Lennon had lived for the later part of his life, and where he was murdered
in 1980. The memorial is a triangular piece of land falling away on the
two sides of the park, and its focal point is a circular pathway mosaic of inlaid stones, with a single word, the title of Lennon's famous song: "Imagine". This was a gift from the city of Naples, Italy.

We could see the apartment where John lived and where Yoko Ono still lives.

Of course we had to cross the road to visit the Dakota Buildings to see where our fellow Englishman and favourite Beatle lost his life.

Back on the road to the other side of Central Park for a leisurely walk,where we saw people fishing,

the French and Italian gardens,

beautiful fountains

We even saw someone taking two turtles for a swim in one of the fountains!

Then it was back to the hotel with time for a quick lunch before we had to meet up with our tour guide again for a trip on the subway to where we were going for our next exciting ride - on a helicoptor! We took lots of photos, here's just a selection.

We also took a video from the helicoptor, this is just an extract to give you the bird's eye view we enjoyed. I suggest you turn off your sound before watching the video, as you might imagine it is very loud.

After the helicoptor ride we headed back up to Times Square, where we purchased discount tickets to see a Broadway show, before going to Red Lobster for something to eat, then onto the show at the Helen Hayes theatre.

What a fantastic show, we can really recommend it.

As you might imagine we were, by now, exhausted but it wasn't too late so we found an Irish Pub just around the corner from our hotel, where we enjoyed a couple of beers before heading for our bed.

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"One's life is never in vain, no matter how short, if people remember you." Akelamalu 2009

"A person only has to prove what they believe if they are trying to convince someone else that it's true. I don't bother trying to prove anything because what others believe doesn't matter to me." Akelamalu 2010

Welcome to my home from home......

Take your shoes off and stay a while. Please leave a comment - I love comments and I promise to return the favour.

Who I am

I'm a Scorpio female, married with two sons, four grandsons and one granddaughter. Akelamalu is my Hawaian name, not that I'm Hawaian you understand I just like the name.
As my header says "I may tell you everything. I may tell you nothing" - depending on the mood I'm in.
I also practice Reiki, if you want to know more about this please see my favourite posts.
I have a webpage where I have published my Grandmother's biography, which was written by my father when he was 72. You can read it or buy a hard back copy - just click on the links above the photograph of KIT.
All photographs on this blog are copyrighted 2007 and must not be used without express permission from me.

DAN'S FI-VER (MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF NUTS) - My son's blog

MY WEBSITE - KIT - A BIOGRAPHY OF MY GRANDMOTHER

Kit - Book Reviews

Stephen

This was a fantastic read. My mother is a niece of Joe and so Kit was my Great Grandmother, and so relating to some of the characters was fantastic. Thanks for a moving tribute to our Great Grandmother.

Lorraine

How lovely and a wonderful tribute. Your father must be so proud and I think it is incredible he took the time to sit and write this out. I am so happy for him that this has seen the light of day and we are all able to read his words. Say a big thank you to him from me please.

Fancita

This has been the most moving story I have read in a long time. I will read this over and over again. Such a wonderful give you have given.

Jackie

I loved Kit's story! My family are from the same area, so much of it was very familiar to me. It is a wonderful heirloom!

Andrew

This biography is of my great grandmother. I am the youngest son of one of Joe's nieces and really enjoyed reading and learning lots about the family history. Thanks for the moving history lesson.

Mary

Beautiful.... spent the last few days reading this on and off. Once I started reading this I could not stop. Heartworming. Memories...

M.M.

Have done nothing else today but read your mother's story. Once I started I couldn't stop. She would be very proud. Thanks for a very fascinating and moving story!! I will be going to England for the first time later this month, but not around the Manchester area. It is a place I have always wanted to visit, not for the least of which is the resilience of it's people which your family's story certainly demonstrates. Thanks.

momo

its quite amazin becuse in scool we r learnin about riting a biography of 1 of our parents.i love it!!!!!

Robin

Loved it! Started and couldn't stop until the end. My only complaint is that I couldn't view any but the first photograph - would've loved to see more of Kit and her family. What a wonderful thing to do and what a treasure for Kit's family!

Karen

I have just finished reading KIT - A Biography of my Mother. What a wonderful, heartwarming story, I enjoyed each and every chaper. Hope it will be published as a book for all to read.

Lettuce

This is wonderful, Lamalu - i've got tears on my face too, lovely writing and what a great story and insight and memory - and everything that it is! i've just read the beginning, and will be back soon for more.Congrats, this really is marvellous!

Annelisa

I've read 'The Beginning'... the birth of Kit...and was engrossed! Although there was strife, and the catholics and protestants were not good bed-fellows, it is beautiful that your grandmother and grandfather came together, and in their affection for each other gave birth to little baby Kit... I will be back to read the next chapter soon... I would love to know more about this (your) family!

Dauna

I love the words that have flowed from your heart about your mother Kit. I feel like I know you and her through your words. I have tears in my eyes. Thank you so much for sharing it was beautiful. I will be sending people to read this and hope you publish in book form I would buy. Oh my what a great heart warming story of your mothers life, love ,struggles, wonderful children and victory. Kit lived!Many blessings to you,Angel

Thank you Ron.

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The Reiki Precepts

Just for today I will not worry;
Just for today I will not get angry;
Just for today I will be thankful for my many blessings;
Just for today I will be honest in my dealings with people;
Just for today I will be kind to every living thing.